Monkey business.

Today we listened to some really interesting debates about Globalisation at the university of The Gambia. I couldn't really recall what was said in totality, but definitely give these books a read should you get the chance, written by our own Dr Momodou Sallah (Global Hands Director and lecturer at De Montfort University).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Global-youth-work-Provoking-consciousness/dp/1905541872

In general, the discussions were about how "Grotesque" systems had been put in place that exploited African resources without the continent's countries actual receiving the benefits themselves - How this came to be and what needed to be done to prevent it. It was all very interesting but I was really taken back by the passion expressed by both the lecturers and students standing to ask questions. There were also some cultural activities that took place in between - which as always were impressive! In the evening, Global Hands had a book launch of an anthology of Gambian Poetry. The heartfelt and power behind these being read publicly was honestly astounding. It really was impressive and, as the host jokingly pointed out, "shattered the illusion that [they] all just lived in trees". Here are some links to the books if you are interested:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Harvest-Gambian-Lines-Poetry-Anthology/dp/0957407327/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405041695&sr=8-1&keywords=gambian+lines

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Grave-Yard-Cannot-Pray/dp/0957407319/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405041879&sr=8-1-fkmr2&keywords=the+graveyard+cannot+pray

The second is about FGM, which is a whole other monstrosity I haven't had chance to cover but really should be uncovered. As for the photo, well I didn't actually have my camera that day, so here's a photo of a cute little monkey from a few days before!